On behalf of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd Bin Abdul Aziz, Second Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defense and Aviation and Inspector-General Prince Sultan Bin Abdul Aziz, accompanied by Governor of Riyadh Province Prince Salman Bin Abdul Aziz patronized the ceremonies yesterday of the inauguration of the Al-Faisaliyah Center, and the awarding of the King Faisal International Prizes.

Speaking at a press conference following the inauguration, Prince Salman referred to the Al-Faisaliyah Center as a great milestone for the city of Riyadh, and an aesthetic project with a charitable mission, adding that he hoped it would be the first of many such projects. In his address on the occasion, Director-General of the King Faisal Foundation and Governor of Asir Province Prince Khaled Al-Faisal confirmed that all income from the Al-Faisaliyah Center, incidentally the city's tallest building, will go towards the service of humanity and knowledge.

Prince Sultan then patronized the 23rd awards ceremony for the King Faisal International Prizes, which was held in the newly-built banquet hall of Al-Faisaliyah Center. Winner of the 2000 prize for service to Islam, Al-Azhar University in Cairo, was represented by Dr. Muhammad Sayed Tantawi. The other prizewinners were: for Islamic Studies, Professor Muhammad Mohar Ali from Bangladesh; for Arabic Literature, Professor Abd Allah El Tayyib from the Sudan, and Professor Izz ad-Din Ismail Abdu Al-Ghani of Egypt; for medicine, in the field of aging, Professor Cynthia Jane Kenyon, an American from the University of California at San Francisco; and for science, in the field of biology, Professor Edward Osborne Wilson of Harvard University, and Dr. John Craig Venter of the Institute for Genomic Research. The laureates were awarded a certificate summarizing their distinguished works, a 24-carat, 200-gram gold medal and a cash award of $200,000, which is shared in the two cases of joint winners.